Manila, Philippines - Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday announced the 24 percent increase in the number of slots for Grade 7 students availing of tuition fee subsidy in private schools under the education service contracting scheme (ESC).

Armin A. Luistro, Education Secretary said that from 250,896 slots in school year 2012-2013, the ESC slots for Grade 7 students has been increased to 310,709 slots for school year 2013-2014.

ESC is a scheme under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) wherein the government subsidizes the tuition fee of students who enroll in private schools because public secondary schools cannot accommodate them anymore. It is jointly implemented by DepEd and the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE).

The subsidy is P6,500 per student in participating schools outside the National Capital Region and P10,000 per student in private schools in the NCR, DepEd said.

“The decision to accommodate more students under the ESC is part of our continuing thrust to democratize access to quality education across the country,” added Luistro.

DepEd and FAPE determined the distribution of Grade 7 slots under the ESC based on public school shortage in the regions, schools division and municipalities. “We also put weight in the participating schools’ compliance to performance-based standards.

Based on DepEd Memo No. 65, series of 2013, the total number of Grade 7 slots comprises the actual number of grantees in the previous school year, which are fixed, plus additional slots in areas where there are serious overcrowding.

Another basis for the allocation of additional slots is the certification/accreditation ratings given to compliant schools as of March 18, 2013.

Grade 7 is part of the revised education system in the Philippines - the K to 12 program that was implemented on SY 2012-2013. The K to 12 covers Kindergarten (K), 6 years of Primary Education, 4 years of Junior High School (JHS) and 2 years of Senior High School (SHS). G7 belongs to Junior High School level.